Module 4: Music and Virtuosity

 

                                                               Western Music Example

                                                               Frank Liszt - Un Sospiro 

   This piece, composed by Frank Liszt, fits perfectly within this module because Liszt (heavily inspired by Paganini) reached beyond the traditional genres that were in place and created one of his own. Although he focused on romanticism, this particular genre is an etude, which can be written for any instrument but in this case was performed on a piano. Liszt transformed the music and added much complexity and ideas to flow through others, while also offering a great challenge in this particular etude, where one must cross their hands while playing, one playing the simple melody while the other the background. 

    I have personally heard this song a great amount of time, and listening to the song was very soothing to me, and I had no idea it was done be someone who was as influential as Liszt. Diving deeper into the song itself, he created the song as a way to train one to perform a beautiful melody constantly while quickly switching hands. This goes to show that he wanted to inspire as well as challenge other pianists, to show all of the capabilities that music, and the piano, can have. Watching the hands of the performer within the video just goes to show just how difficult the pieces that Liszt put together in order to transform music, and challenge musicians. 

    The meaning of this song is linked to many different aspects of music. However, the main focus in on the melody, which is calming with a fast tempo. There are some chords that are played above or below the octave and even sometimes out of sequence. The song also gets loud, then soft, then once again loud and soft, showing the diversity of the tempo within the piece. It is written in D-flat Major, with the melody accompanied by arpeggios, with the dynamics of the piece getting louder and louder towards the ending of the piece.  

                                                                Modern Example

                                                        Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven

    Led Zeppelin, in particular Jimmy Page, is a great example of a virtuoso. Jimmy Page is one who has mastered the guitar, playing it in a wide variety of genres, spanning from rock to folk. One of his bands (Led Zeppelin) most famous song is Stairway to Heaven, where you can clearly see through some of this video, Jimmy playing the guitar wonderfully. Although there are some fairly slow parts throughout the song, there are also pieces of the song that require mastery of the guitar, and that is when we see Jimmy Page shine on his guitar skills, most notably starting at 42 seconds into the video. Although this was one of his more famous songs, many other songs show his ability to play not just rock and roll, but many other genres.

    This song has a great massage to its audience, that is preached around the world. The song focuses on a woman who works so hard to gain money to try and buy her way into heaven, however, in the end she comes to realize that material possessions do not lead to true happiness or to heaven. Not only is the song a great piece that is regarded as a classic, it also provides the strong message that money does not buy happiness, that getting to heaven is not attained by trying to gain as much material wealth as you can.

     The song, although displaying a great message, is also regarded as one of the best rock songs to be performed. This is because of the passion within the music, as well as all the musical elements that are spread throughout the song to emphasize the lyrics and meaning. It starts with a monophonic introduction, then throughout the rest of the song has homophonic textures. The song also has a great flow of dynamics and tempo that calm and then almost excite the listener as the song goes on. One of the main reasons for the dynamics and the tempo is the drums that are played in the background, as these set the pacing and the mood for the listener through the song.